Luigi the Freight Engine
by Thunderman88
Summary: A new engine comes to Sodor; his name is Luigi and hails from Italy. Follow him as he finds a new life, new friends... and old foes! It's my very first fanfiction, so don't be too hard on me!
1. Chapter 1

Ok this is my first attempt to write a fanfiction, so I ask every reader to not be too hard. Moreover, English is not my mother language, so I apologize for every possible mistakes!

DISCLAIMER : I don't own Thomas the Tank Engine.

**CHAPTER 1 : WAITING**

Rusty.

Yes, that was the right word to describe his situation. Or maybe not? He sighed to himself. Boy, maybe all the time spent in that empty yard was starting to take his toll. Well, why not? At the beginning, there were other engines to talk to, but year by year, all were gone... to scrap.

He was mildly surprised when he noticed the word had no effect on him. But what do you expect, after years and years of being 'waiting for scrap'? He remembered that day, when he first heard those horrible words....

February 1st, 1967

The engineer carefully approached the rusty engine, and when a soft 'clang' was heard, he stopped the engine. His fireman had already lowered the fire, it was so small now that he could have put it off simply by pressing his hand. Now he was standing there, a sad look in his grey eyes. With mechanical precision, the engineer make sure the engine couldn't move anymore, and then he pulled his hat off his head and sighed. "I'm gonna miss him!" he complained lowly. The fireman lowered his eyes. "Me, too. But I'm afraid the time of steam engines are gone. Sooner or later, it should have happened!" "That's not making it any easier." said the engineer. He looked around, fixing every detail of the cabin. Then he slowly got down of it. The pair then walked on the front of the engine; the wanted to say their farewell, but it was difficult. Then, the engineer slowly started : "I'm sorry, we're both very sorry, but we must leave now. You're a very good and reliable engine, so I'm not gonna lie : you're going to stay here, waiting for scrap." He stopped, and it was clear he was struggling not to start crying; he was very attached to his engine. "We shared a lot of good moments together, you know." He said; and then, lifting his gaze, he murmured : "Goodbye!" The fireman said nothing, he just stood there, watching the engine on which he had worked more than twenty years. Then, the two walked away, leaving behind a lonely and sad engine, and not the least important part of their lives...

Now

Lost in his memories, he didn't noticed the group that was walking towards him until they were near. He was surprised; from years he had seen no one coming near him. And it was for very dreadful reasons...

November 15th, 1977

"...And then, I was there, coupled up to a train I couldn't have even _tried_ to pull before the war, and boy was it heavy! When I arrived, I swear I couldn't think of anything besides 'Do I still have wheels?' "

Everyone in the yard laughed. The old engine smiled happily; his stories were the craziest the others had ever heard, and in his very long career he saw so many weird things he had enough stories to entertain them for ages.

But then, an old-looking electric engine shouted : "Hey guys! Look! There's people coming!" And then, everyone spotted them; about ten persons, marching towards the engines, with no expression on their faces, and with a can of paint and a brush. All the engines turned silent; they felt something was going to happen.

The people went into the 'corridor' (they called it the space between the two adjacent tracks occupied by them), and one who looked like the chief indicated one engine; one then took the brush and swiftly painted a white X on the side of it. There was no reason to explain : they understood that the branded engines were soon going to their final destination.

Silently, the men advanced; most of the engines were now with the condemning sign. Finally, they came close to him. The chief lifted his gaze on him, and he braced himself, ready to feel the brush saying his sentence. The chief went on, without lifting his arm, and the brush remained in the can. He felt at the same time relief and guilt; and couldn't lift his eyes to look to the others, not wanting to be reminded his luck...

Now

He remembered too well that shortly thereafter, the branded engines were gone. And he was not : he remained there, waiting for someone at the offices to remind him.

And someone did that. The engine closed his eyes, refusing to see his executioners coming closer. Well, he didn't have any right to complain : he had had a very long life, outliving many other engines. He knew he was the last of a surpassed and obsolete era, and now the last relic of that era was going to disappear. He thought that after all that time spent there, being scrapped was not so bad; it was better than remaining there, useless and lone.

He heard someone climbing on him; he waited to hear the blowtorch's hiss, the pain of the steel being cut, the gradual loss of conscience, after what the only thing remaining of him would have been some dismembered wheel, tube and lever.

But it didn't came.

He was puzzled when this people started to examinate him : opening his firebox, checking his cab, inspecting his tender, scanning for any sign of structural damage. But there was none : he was one of the latest steam engines to be built, and he had endured very well to the time and to the rain. His last coat of paint had fought very effectively the advance of rust.

So, when all of them declared one by one that he was in very good shape, the one who was looking as the chief smiled, and looked up to him. "Very well!" he said, and patted with satisfaction his left cylinder. "You're up to be refitted, pal! You're not ready for the scrapyard yet!"

And for the first time in nearly forty years, Luigi the Freight Engine felt a surge of true hope filling his boiler...


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, another chapter is up. Sorry if it's a bit late!

If anyone is curious about my character, I based him on a 480 class heavy-freight locomotive, of which 18 were built in 1923 for heavy freight trains on the Brenner line; after some years, when the electrification of the line came, they were reassigned to heavy shunting or freight service in Sicily. The last was withdrawn in 1968, but one has survived.

**CHAPTER 2 : A NEW LIFE**

On the Island of Sodor, all was well. Or better, almost all. In fact, since awhile the freight traffic had increased a lot, due to the expanding industry of the island, and so the engines were working very hard. Even Gordon had to pull some freight trains after pulling his beloved Express, and he was not happy at all. His friends had to go in the sheds after a very fatiguing day, only to hear him complaining about being a passenger engine, not a freight one. But even with his help, Henry, Murdoch and Hank were very busy, because they were the only engines big enough to pull the heavy trains, and when the sun set, they were always very tired.

So, the Fat Controller decided to do something. And one day, he went to Tidmouth Sheds to talk to the engines. "I have some good news!" he boomed. "A new engine is coming; he will help handling those heavy freight trains, so Gordon shall return to passenger service on full time, and the others will be available for other services!" All the engines were glad to hear this, and started talking about the new arrival at once. "I wonder how big he is." said Thomas. Percy teasingly suggested : "Maybe it's bigger than Gordon!" Gordon was irritated, but he pompously replied : "I don't care how big he is, he won't be able to pull the Express!" Hank sighed : "Hoo-boy, Gordon, you're always talkin' about your Express! Give us a breathe! However, I'm gonna be happy when the newbie arrives, those trains are a pain in my boiler!"

When the day came, the Fat Controller told Thomas to go to Brendam Docks, to welcome the new arrival. When he arrived, eager to meet the new engine, he spotted him.

He did look big. His boiler was very long, and he had ten small driving wheels preceded by two freewheels. He was painted with a shining coat of black paint, but his wheels were painted red with a white strip on the outer side. His tender was painted accordingly. The front of his chassis was red, with the numbers **480 001** painted in white. He looked very powerful.

The Fat Controller, who was waiting for Thomas, announced : "This is Luigi. He is an Italian engine." "Nice to meet you." said Thomas politely. Luigi answered grinning widely : "Mine pleasure!" Thomas was surprised for the eagerness of the engine, but Sir Topham Hatt spoke before he could ask the reason. "Thomas, you have to guide Luigi to the New Steelworks, where a train is waiting for him, and then you have to help him to bring the train to Barrow Station!" "Yes, sir!" answered Thomas, and he steamed out of the docks, followed by Luigi in the adjacent line.

While they were puffing towards their destination, Thomas decided to ask Luigi something about him; he was a curious engine, and was surprised to see him so happy and cheerful. So he cautiously said : "I have to say, all the engines on Sodor were looking forward for you to arrive; we have been very busy lately!" Luigi answered : "I can guess it, but they couldn't have been more eager for me to come than I was to come here! Man, am I glad to be here!!" Thomas was even more surprised. "Why are you so happy to be here?" "Well, I've been stuck in a shed for years, waiting for scrap, and I would have given anything to come back in service! It happened, and then I'm eager to pull trains again!" Thomas shivered. "S-scrap?" Luigi's grin quivered. "Well, in Italy things weren't well; much before you, electric and diesel engines were already taking our places. I was lucky, when the line I was working on was electrified I was reassigned to another, but after years the diesels came, and there was no more place for me to go. Other steam engines survived in one way or another, but I was too big and too powerful to be employed in some secondary branch line, so I was left in a shed, waiting for a never-coming scrap... well, never coming for me. The other engines weren't so lucky!" Luigi lowered his eyes and stopped talking. Thomas was amazed, but decided not to insist for more. They steamed in silence towards the Works.

At last, they arrived. There was a very long train of trucks loaded with steel waiting for them. Luigi carefully backed at slow speed, and was coupled to the front truck. Thomas was slightly worried : the train looked very heavy, and he knew even Murdoch and Henry would have some difficulty to pull it. "Are you sure you can made it? It looks very heavy!" he asked. Luigi sneered. "Don't worry, Thomas; this thing is not nearly as heavy as the trains I've pulled on the Brenner line!" He pumped his pistons, and slowly the train started to move, without even a skid or an hesitation. Luigi steamed slowly out of the works, and started to accelerate, finally mantaining a good rhythm. Thomas was dumbfounded : Luigi was mightier than he looked; he thought : "_If the others were looking this, they would be envious!_"

He followed Luigi as he steamed on towards the destination, looking very satisfied. He was afraid that after the long time spent he would need some time to return in shape, but actually he didn't. He felt very proud of himself. He started looking around, taking his time to observe Sodor, and was as excited as a tourist. "Well, this island looks very nice! It's not Italy, but I like it!" Thomas stiffened a bit hearing this words, but decided not to comment. He didn't want to spoil his new friend's happiness.

At last, they arrived at Barrow Station. The Fat Controller was there, and he was surprised to see that Luigi was pulling the train by himself. "Thomas, you had to help him pulling the train!" he said, sternly. Luigi spoke up : "Please, sir, I asked him to let me handle this. I didn't need any help, and I wanted to... well, feel the trucks I was pulling, sir!" The Fat Controller smiled : he knew the engine had passed a lot of time waiting for scrap, and so he understood why he was so eager to work. "Very well. But if you realize that you can't do your job yourself, ask for help, you don't have to impress anyone here!" "Yes, sir! I will certaibly do as you said!" promised Luigi.

Then, Gordon came in with the Express. He halted and then looked at the newcomer. Although he'd never admit it, he was as curious as every other engine about him. "Hello!" he said politely, relieved by the fact that Luigi had small wheels, so no danger about his position as titular of the Express. Furthermore, he was impressed : he was almost as big as him. "Oh, hi! Are you the big-wheels bossy express engine that every railway has?" asked Luigi, teasingly. "Yes, he is! His name is Gordon!" answered immediately Thomas, preparing for Gordon to snort some pompous negation and steam away. But Gordon instead answered calmly and with even a half smile : "Well, not always. Then, are you always so cheeky?" "Hmmm... not always. Just the times when I'm back in service after years!" Thomas was surprised : he didn't understand why Gordon wasn't playing the 'big Express engine' part this time. He thought : _"This engine is not only strong... he's also thrustworthy!"_

Luigi settled down quite easily with the routine. He was quick to make friends : after a week, all the steam engines were treating him as one of them. He was a big and powerful engine, and so Henry, James, Murdoch and Hank immediately respected him, but with them and with the smaller engines he didn't boast about his might. Instead, he was always polite, friendly, and always ready to lend a hand, with his brute strenght, but also with counsels, that were coming from years of experience on a hard mountain line.

But as kind as he was, he could also be stern and inflexible when needed. One time, he was waiting at Tidmouth Station for his freight train to be ready, when Diesel came by. "So you're the new steamie!" he oiled, with apparent disgust. Luigi didn't miss a shot : immediately he answered : "And you are the sneery, evil diesel that thinks that steam engines should be scrapped at once, right?" Diesel was so surprised that he could have understood him so easily, that Luigi talked again before him. "If you're here to insult me, fine, I can bear that. But if you're here to make some prank, you'd better think about it again. As long as you don't obstacle me, I don't have any reason to give you a lesson, but you are surely going to have you if you do!" With that, he steamed to collect some coal and water, because Percy had his train almost ready. Diesel was livid : with a sneer, but with caution, he followed Luigi. And when he was taking water, he bumped him as hard as he could. But Luigi didn't move : he realized that Diesel would have tried it, so he'd had his driver apply all the brakes.

Diesel was shocked : it was the first time he couldn't surprise a steamie. Then, Luigi stopped taking on water, for his tender was full, and confronted him. "I tried to warn you, but I knew that I'd had to do this!" And with that, the brakes released, he charged and bumped Diesel so hard that the engine was stopped only at the end of the siding by the buffers. Rocked by the mighty bump, Diesel stood there, and when he could think straight, he was terrified seeing Luigi coming towards him. If he would have bumped him again, he would have smashed into a signalbox. But when he was close, Luigi stopped. He looked with a steel glare into Diesel's eyes and growled slowly : "I hope you understood the lesson. For I'm not giving you another. Now by now, I'm fine with you. But if you bother me again, or I hear that you bothered any of my friends..." He looked with a such murderous glare that Diesel's fuel went ice-cold. "...I'll reduce you so badly that even the Scrapyard won't take you!" These words made their effect. Diesel's face became green with fear : he didn't have any problem bossing and making pranks to small engines, and telling the big ones that they should be scrapped. But now there was a steam engine that was giving him a serious warning. He realized that if he'd ignore that, he would soon end up down a hill, or bumped into the sea.

Luigi looked at him with grim satisfaction. The diesel engine had surely received the warning. Satisfied, he left to collect his freight train.

After having proved his force (and all the Island was soon speaking about it, the steam engines reverently, the diesel engines with terror, and the Fat Controller with unofficial but sincere approvation), Luigi showed his forgiveness. After two weeks, he saw Diesel again. He looked miserable : all the steam engines that he used to insult laughed at him, the good diesels simply ignored him, and even 'Arry and Bert didn't speak with him. He felt very glum : he couldn't even think about revenge, for practical reasons, but also because he couldn't. He didn't have any problems about teasing and pranking the steamies before, but now that he was forced to bear the pain of being on the receiving end of everyone's sarcasm, he realized it was not a good thing, not at all. He was wondering if he'd done the right things before, when Luigi steamed at his side. He was suddenly rocking with fear.

"I... I did...didn't do... anything, anything, I swear!..." he stuttered. Luigi felt slightly ashamed : he'd meant to give him a lesson he'd never forget, not to reduce him into a laughing stock. Besides, he was convinced that Diesel was not so evil as everyone thought. He was simply misinformed : when he was built, he had been taught that diesels were the future, that steamies were going to be scrapped, and so on. But on the Island of Sodor, with a little trust on him, he would have changed; but the steam engines didn't trust him, and answered to his hate with other hate.

He decided it was time to set thing right. So, he begun to speak : "Listen, I know you didn't do anything. Please, calm down. I had to be rough that day, because only a shock terapy would work with you. But I didn't want to transform you into a laughing stock, and I'm sorry for that. I'm going to put a stop to that." Diesel was dumbfounded. "Why would you do something like this for a diesel?" he asked, unbelievingly. Luigi glared at him, not with the steel glare that frightened him so much that day, but with a deep and emphatic glare that Diesel had never seen. "I would do such a thing for any engine, steamie or diesel. We don't have to hate each other. You used to hate steam engines, and now where are you? Alone, reduced to a buffoon, and with no one to trust you... besides me!"

Diesel was more touched than ever. A steam engine was saying... that he trusted him? That he trusted a diesel? He searched in his eyes for the lie that had to be there... but didn't found it. He was sincere.

"A...Are you serious?" he asked, still refusing to hear to his ears. Luigi answered quietly : "Yes, I am. I do trust you. And I believe we can be friends!" Friends? That was something unbelievable. But Diesel thought that in fact he didn't have any friends. Most of the engines didn't like him, and 'Arry and Bert were just his accomplices in his plans. He suddenly felt longing for a friend. He looked up at Luigi and smiled. "Yes, I agree... friend!" Luigi smiled back. That was indeed a good day!


End file.
